THE DAANG Hari-South Luzon Expressway
(SLEx), now called Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX) and is the Aquino
government’s first public-private partnership contract awarded, will be opened
to motorists by March next year, its builder said yesterday.

THE DAANG HARI-South Luzon Expressway
(SLEx) has been renamed Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, a four-kilometer toll
road project that uses the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from
north and south of SLEx. -- PPP.GOV.PH

The toll rates were set at P17 for
Class 1 vehicles like cars and vans and P34 for Class 2 vehicles such as buses
and trucks, Noel Eli B. Kintanar, executive vice-president of Ayala Corp.’s AC
Infrastructure Holdings Corp., told a briefing.

“As of November, construction is
estimated to be over 60% complete and 80% by end of the year,” Mr. Kintanar
said.

“We are on track to open in March next
year and be fully operational a month after, also within the first quarter.”

The expressway’s operation period
officially starts when the toll operation certificate is issued, according to
the concession agreement.

The MCX, formerly known as the Daang
Hari-SLEx Link Road project, is a four-kilometer four-lane toll road that
snakes through the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Piñas and
Bacoor, Cavite to SLEx via the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntinlupa,
traversing the New Bilibid Prison Reservation.

The P2.01-billion link road would use
the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of SLEx.

The contract was awarded in December
2011, and was supposed to be completed 18 months after signing. Construction,
however, had been delayed by problems over an interconnection to SLEx and
right-of-way issues.

SEAMLESS TRAVEL

Ayala Corp. said it is in talks with
the Skyway O&M Corp. and South Luzon Tollways Corp. -- operators of Metro
Manila Skyway and SLEx -- to provide smooth travel for 50,000 expected
motorists.

An “interoperability agreement” would
“provide motorists seamless travel from the MCX as well as SLEx and Skyway” as
they would be allowed to exit the three toll roads under one ticketing system,
company officials said.

“Both SLEx and Skyway have their own
clearing operations and this is what we are currently discussing,” Mr. Kintanar
said. -- C. J. V. Dela Paz